From the editor’s Desk: Red Hands, No Cuffs

Bahamians like our sets and pairs. Peas n’ Rice, Gin & Coconut Water, Sunshine & Sand. But there seems to be a disconnect between law enforcement and the justice system.

It is deceptive to scoff at the police in the face of the ludicrous crime in our country. But I’m of the mindset that our police force wants to and genuinely tries to do a good job. Even stripped of adequate tools and funding the Royal Bahamas Police Force catches crooks. This is despite the government openly fighting to prevent paying Police their deserved overtime, despite slashed budgets and despite having just one boat to patrol all of Abaco.

The most pressing example of this: the highly public capture of three boat thieves red handed several weeks ago. Those three men are set to be released by the court system. Look to page seven for the full details of this fiasco.

But the story’s abridged version is this: despite overwhelming evidence (see: “Caught Red Handed”) if the boat’s owner is not present at trial the case will be thrown out. Why would the owner not show up? Abaco is his second home and it costs a lot of money to get here from where he currently is. Couple that with the fact that “court dates” in our country are remarkably fluid, it is easy to understand why the victim is not keen on dropping a couple grand to show up to what should be an open and shut case and not even have the guarantee his efforts would be justified.

His frustration, and ours, is excruciating.

But this is currently the law of the land. And unless our North Abaco MP is able to convince his colleagues in Cabinet that there needs to be a new approach to matters such as these, well, then, it appears our police force’s efforts are in vain.

Get to know these thieves faces. Because they may be applying for a job at your marina soon.